IRVING, Texas - Urgency is growing among NFL owners and league officials to resolve the Vikings' stadium stalemate in Minnesota, even with Commissioner Roger Goodell tamping down expectations that a team could relocate to Los Angeles next season.

With seven weeks remaining on the Vikings' Metrodome lease and no political consensus on financing or a site, owners voted Wednesday to increase league subsidies to teams for stadium projects.

The loans could provide the Vikings up to $200 million to invest in their proposed $1.1 billion retail-stadium project in Arden Hills as the clock continues ticking toward the Feb. 1 expiration of their Metrodome lease.

"I don't sense (urgency) just from the ownership group; I sense it from the leaders in Minnesota, also," Goodell said. "Everyone wants to find a solution. I'm confident we are going to get there because of that commitment."

The Vikings are at the front of the line to receive a league-subsidized loan for their proposal, said Eric Grubman, executive vice president of NFL ventures and business operations.

"I think the pump is primed to take their application, but it's going to really start with a deal being put to them from state and local authorities that makes sense," he said.

The Vikings would have to sell enough club seats and personal seat licenses in the new stadium to back a $150 million loan, Grubman said. Otherwise, he said, the team would be held liable for the money.

The new program also provides a $50 million grant for qualifying clubs.

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Under the old G-3 fund, middle-market teams such as the Vikings were eligible for a maximum subsidy of $102 million.

"I think it's much improved," Goodell said about the new financing program. "These have become more expensive and more complex projects in these markets, and we had to adjust our policy to participate."

Stadium financing was among the resolutions owners passed at the Four Seasons Resort outside Dallas.

They also extended through 2022 the league's national television contracts, reportedly worth $7 billion, and approved the sale of the Jacksonville Jaguars to Illinois businessman Shahid Khan.

Wilf declined to be interviewed Wednesday. Lester Bagley, the Vikings' chief lobbyist, stressed the need to resolve the debate before their Dome lease expires.

"Today's action by NFL owners is good news. The TV contract extension underscores that the NFL is a healthy league," Bagley said.

"We need to resolve the stadium issue and ensure the Vikings remain in Minnesota. Local revenues drive the competitiveness of NFL teams. While the NFL is healthy, the stadium situation in Minnesota is not."

Wilf has pledged $425 million to the project and was counting on a cash infusion from the league to supplement his contribution. That leaves Ramsey County and the state to finance the remaining $650 million.

The Vikings want to build in Arden Hills, but Hennepin County Board chairman Mike Opat said Wednesday a Vikings stadium on the western edge of downtown Minneapolis is still in play even though Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak is backing a new stadium on the Metrodome site.

Opat says downtown businesses prefer to build near the Target Field, even though Rybak says rebuilding on the current site east of downtown would be cheapest.

There is little momentum for a special stadium session, and it remains unclear whether a bill will be introduced when the Legislature returns Jan. 24.

Goodell said he has been in contact with political leaders in Minnesota, including Gov. Mark Dayton, and remains optimistic.

"I know that they're focusing on solutions," Goodell said. "They know that the lease is expiring, but they want to make sure the Vikings have a suitable stadium going forward. They want to make sure it works in their community.

"That's what the Vikings and the NFL want. I think everyone's working in the same direction."

Without stadium legislation, the Vikings have said, they would not sign a lease extension on the Dome with the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission and will become a free agent.

"The time is growing short," warned Jacksonville Jaguars founder Wayne Weaver, whose sale of the team to Kahn was approved by owners Wednesday.

"Zygi has been extraordinarily patient trying to make sure they're doing their share to get this done. ... Now, the government's got to step up and the fans have got to step up. They've just got to find a way to get it done."

Weaver is a member of the NFL's powerful finance committee, which reviews G-4 loan applications. He is selling the Jaguars to Kahn for a reported $786 million, and the NFL's first minority owner promised to keep the small-market team in northeast Florida.

"I am totally committed to Jacksonville," Kahn told reporters.

The San Francisco 49ers have reached a deal with suburban Santa Clara to build a $1.1 billion stadium they might share with the Oakland Raiders, their Bay Area rivals.

That leaves the Vikings and the San Diego Chargers as leading candidates to relocate to Los Angeles, where developers are forging ahead with competing stadium plans to lure an existing team to the country's second-largest city.

Logistically, the Chargers make the most sense since they are only 200 miles south on Interstate 5. But owner Alex Spanos is reluctant to move the team and the Chargers must pay $23 million to buy out their lease with the city of San Diego.

Any team would have to notify the NFL by Feb. 15 that it intends to relocate although Goodell does not believe investors in Los Angeles can field a team next season.

"It's a viable market in the sense that we know there are millions of fans in that market who want to see football returned, but we want to return in a successful way and that requires a stadium," the commissioner said.

"I don't think we'll be in a position to make that decision by 2012, but we're continuing to work with the different alternatives in L.A. and hope we'll get a solution that will work."